Girona restaurants, Girona Bars and Nightlife in Girona.
What better way to discover Girona than to try out some of its bars, restaurants and cafes! Being such a small city it’s easy to just wander around and see what takes your fancy. See our ‘More Girona Restaurants page for additional A to Z type listings and some of my own personal reviews of Girona restaurants, bars and clubs that I’ve visited. Like most cities Girona has a good mix of restaurants that serve familiar Catalan cuisine, and even tapas, at all price levels. As far as tipping goes you’ll be pleasantly surprised that the locals are not big tippers, just a few small ‘coins’ often suffices.
I’ve noticed that the Catalans here make a big point of maintaining this ritual of a long sit-down lunch, at the expense of anything else, like it’s ‘written in stone’. I have my lunch between 1.30 and 3.30 pm and that’s how it’s always been. It’s something I have adapted to with ease! Many places that offer the daily menu (Menu in Catalan or Menu del Dia in Spanish) don’t start serving it until about 1.30 pm.
Catalan food has many interesting variations of ingredients, mixing the produce from the sea and the mountains typically refered to as ‘mar y montana’. It’s common to see many restaurants, cafes and bars displaying a daily set menu for between 9-13 Euros. You get a limited choice (usually 3) of dishes for the first and second course and a small dessert or coffee, plus a glass of wine and some bread, all included. Some places that I’ve eaten at even leave the bottle on the table to help yourself!
All freshly prepared and home-cooked, its simple, un-fussy food that tastes good, served mostly between 1.30-3.30 but I would aim to try and sit down by about 2pm. Most places display a menu-board outside so have a food dictionary handy as menus are written in Catalan or, ask the waiter for a translation!
Here are a few places which are in my local area of La Devesa, other similar ones can be found in most districts, beware as most close by early evening and those that stay open may not serve food outside of lunchtime hours.
Can Vidal, C/Massaguer, Girona. Bar/restaurant that does a popular set lunch menu for around 9€ with wine, bread and dessert, we’ve been here a few times, and it’s always been very good. On Saturdays for lunch there’s only a tapas menu available, just order what you want, which I can vouch for as being very good and not expensive.
Ca l’Avia, Porvenir, 10 Girona Tel 972 221 122. Down a small side street off Santa Eugenia this restaurant is known for its paella, served every Thursday. We tried it and at 9€ each for the set menu with a carafe of wine it was well worth it and tasty. I’ve also had some nice ‘Galtes’ here which are Pig’s cheeks!
Moments) (closed) C/Del Riu Guell, ground floor of the CINC office building. Large bar/restaurant with a set menu. When we tried it one lunchtime it was fine but not the best I’ve had. With plentiful outdoor seating this is also a good place to meet-up for an evening drink. Update 11/2009 Now re-opened, looking a bit more posher inside with comfy, curving sofas with a new name, Moments. Lunch menu of about 13€ and a la carte in the evening.
Mistic, (closed) also in C/ Del Riu Guell. A recently opened bar and restaurant with a modern, contemporary designed bar and interior but maybe they’ve overdone it with the black paint! Funky lighting and some cool sounds with a seperate dining area. It offers a daily menu-of-the day at around 11€ and a regular menu at night. Does a nice G & T, for a cool 7.50€ and the margaritas aren’t bad either. Stays open late at the weekends, till 3 am.
Noguera, Just around the corner from the Mistic bar/cafe in Ronda Ferran Puig is a very good but expensive cake/pastry shop where you can also have a coffee or hot chocolate inside, or out on its rear terrace. Open Sundays also, till about 2pm.
Can Pau, C/Pau Casals. It has outdoor seating and a small patio area at the rear. We tried the set menu at 12.75€ but this did not include drinks except coffee. Good starter of fish soup and grilled lamb chops followed, which were served with some thick crisps, and the dessert selection was very good and self service.
A good tip is to look for places that are busy with local people or office workers, however many places that cater for tourists (eg. Girona old town area) often have their menus in English (some with photos) and other European languages.
In late spring every year there’s also a 10 day ‘Gastronomic’ programme where many Girona restaurants display special set price menus. Check here for future dates www.setmanagastronomica.com/2007/index.htm
I’ve eaten in places that display photos of the dishes and have to say they’re best avoided unless you just want a bog-standard boring meal. It’s surprising even when the foods awful, they still look busy, probably with tourists who don’t expect too much!
Often, the smaller more intimate or cosier places (like Draks) get booked up for the weekend so if you plan to eat on a Friday or Saturday night, or in one of the country eateries try to book a table a few days in advance.
I’ve eaten at many of the places mentioned in this section and add my own comments within the listings on our other page http://mygironaspain.com/girona-restaurants-a-z/ I hope to get to dine at all of them eventually. If you’ve eaten at any of these places or elsewhere and would like to submit your review, please email them to us.
Also, if you live here and don’t fancy cooking during the working week there are many places that sell freshly prepared food, often as a complete 3-course menu for about 7-8€ per person. If you fancy a roast chicken then look-out for the ‘Rostisseria’ shops which typically sell them on a Sunday, for between 7-9€ each. There’s a good one near me called Rostisseria Santa Eugenia, at no.38 but ‘book’ your chicken the day before as they do sell-out!
Just a small note about smoking in restaurants, cafes and bars. It appears that (at the time of writing this, April 2007) the current laws allow smoking in some places but it’s down to the owners to decide. This may change, but look out for signs which say Espai Sense Fum (space free of smoke), NO ES PERMIT FUMAR (smoking not permited) and PERMIT FUMAR (smoking allowed). Update. 2011 there’s no smoking allowed in any cafes or restaurants.
Other Cuisines. They do exist to a certain extent but cannot be compared to much bigger cities like Barcelona where there may be more choices.
Indian food.
Multani Palace C/Major 22, Sarria De Ter Tel: 972 171 770 just a few kilometres north of Girona. When it opened in Feb 2007 I just had to check it out. It serves authentic Indian food but, inside its too brightly lit and reminded me more of a UK transport cafe. The Indian chef’s from Punjab and it’s not that cheap, but it offers a set menu for two at 52 euros. For me, having grown up in London’s East End with it’s numerous curry-houses it wasn’t quite the same, but still OK. The next, nearest Indian restaurants from Girona are in Platja d’Aro and Estartit (called the Taj, Av. de Roma, tel 972 75 15 65).
Update Oct.2007. We ate at the Taj Indian restaurant in Platja d’Aro (C/Marina) and it was quite good, but the meal did cost 90€ (including two beers and a bottle of wine), and considering our kids just had a basic kids meal of nuggets and chips, we thought it was a bit pricey. Shame, otherwise I’d be a regular customer.
Update March 08. The same people have closed in Playa d’Aro and opened up a new, but smaller Indian restaurant in Girona’s old town, also called Taj in C/ Cort Reial no.6, opposite the (closed) Excalibur pub. Tel.972 22 26 55 also offers a take-away service. I’ve heard the portions are rather small and it’s a bit expensive.
Mexican. I’ve noticed one or two Mexican restaurants in Girona, like Escondido which is near the Hotel Carlemany and we’ve tried Taco Bravo a few times.
Taco Bravo, c/Figuerola 41, Girona 17001. Long, narrow layout and the food was fine and quite reasonably priced. We were there one busy Saturday night and it felt under-staffed, as we waited too long when trying to order extra drinks. There’s a weekday set lunch menu at just 9€ which I’ve had, which includes 3 courses and a drink-good food and good value.
